This invention relates to identification of printer output jobs in an efficient and distinguishable manner.
An office printer in a large network may have multiple physical output bins, which are usually used for collation but can also be used to separate and distinguish different print jobs. If bins are used to separate different print jobs, the printer firmware must decide at print time into which bin a print job will be placed, based on which bins are empty or not yet filled. When the user retrieves a print job from a printer, the user is initially unaware into which bin the user""s print job has been placed and must, therefore, examine several or all bins until the sought-after print job is located, by physically examining the printed output(s) in each such bin. This is an inefficient use of the user""s time and can lead to confidentiality problems.
What is needed is an approach that (1) works cooperatively with and does not interfere with conventional distribution of computer printouts to arbitrary bins, (2) provides a means of quickly and visually identifying which printouts are deposited in which bins, (3) takes prompt account of removal of a printout from a recipient bin and (4) optionally provides for some confidential printouts to be placed in selected bins.
These needs are met by the invention, which provides an approach that visually identifies which printouts remain in each recipient bin, using a visual display at or adjacent to each bin. Each bin is provided with a visually perceptible indicium, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or similar distinguishing medium that includes indicium information that uniquely identifies at least one of (1) the user by name, PIN number or similar user indicium, (2) the user project number, (3) the user project run number, (4) the date and/or time the printout was prepared and (5) any other useful and distinguishing information concerning the user and/or the printout.
In one embodiment, as each printout is placed in a bin, part or all of the indicium information is displayed adjacent to the bin. A user examines the display associated with each bin, identifies a bin in which the user""s printout(s) is contained, removes the user""s printout(s), and indicates, using a touch screen or other information entry device, that the user""s printout(s) is now removed. Thereafter, the removed printout indicium information no longer appears on the display.
In another embodiment, a bin is provided with a paper sensor, which determines if one or more sheets of paper or printouts is present and which can clear itself when no paper is present in the bin.
In another embodiment, selected bins are locked and contain confidential information (printouts, etc.). A user must enter a PIN or similar user identification number in order to gain access to, and remove the user""s printout from, a locked bin. Again, when a user""s printout is removed from a locked bin, the user indicium information for that printout is removed from the display.
In another embodiment, a computer that would provide a printout communicates directly with a printout bin, without necessarily preparing a printout to be placed in the bin, and provides the printout bin or a bin surrogate with the indicium information, for display, for record keeping or for some other purpose. In this embodiment, the indicium information is provided or transmitted irrespective of whether or not a printout is ever prepared for the underlying data.